Caffeinated Clint
Even before it opened – what with those rumours of an on-set scuffle between director Josh Trank, the writers, producers, cast and studio, not to mention Fox requesting critics not to share their reviews, let alone thoughts of opinion of the movie before opening day – it was pretty clear what this new “Fantastic Four” movie was going to do. And by that, I mean it was seemingly predestined to barely make a dint at the box office, sending the movie franchise cowering for dear life and back into the hands of Marvel.
But the film, which opened last week to scathing reviews and lackluster box office, has done even more horribly than projected. In short : “Fantastic Four” is one of the worst-reviewed comic book movies of recent times and one of 2015’s biggest flops. The film has barely made it’s $20m budget back, and considering that’s not including marketing costs, the film ultimately won’t break even.
There won’t be a “Fantastic Four” sequel – not this time around, anyway.
There won’t be an “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” crossover – as was initially the plan – not with this cast, anyway.
There likely won’t be any more “Fantastic Four” movies produced by Fox – not after they’ve lost so much dough on this one.
Less than a day after it hit cinemas, director Josh Trank tried to wash his hands of the film’s awful stench by declaring on Twitter (in a post that’s since been deleted) that his version of the film, the version that Fox wouldn’t released, would’ve actually gotten good reviews and made more money.
“A year ago, I had a fantastic version of this. And it would have received great reviews. You’ll probably never see. That’s reality though.”
If that’s the case, then why wasn’t that version released? It makes no sense. Sure, Trank was apparently hard to get along with, and he didn’t seem to see eye to eye with anybody on the production (including the Fox chiefs, the writers, and a couple of the cast -namely Kate Mara, who he didn’t wouldn’t cast and apparently insisted on bullying her throughout production as a way to let her know he didn’t want her in his movie), but surely someone could’ve stepped up and said “Ya know what, dick or not, he’s made a good movie here – let’s not fuck with it.” But they didn’t. Why? We might never know the answer – until someone decides to release that director’s cut.
Trank’s version was apparently clad with more action – even the scene you see in the trailer, with The Thing jumping from an airplane, didn’t even make it into the finished film – and a couple of those more action-oriented scenes were reportedly cut from the film JUST before it hit theaters. His version also had a different ending than the one currently on screens.
It all makes no sense at all.
But by declaring his own film shit, Trank, say insiders, likely cost the film about 5 to 10 million dollars of box-office (and considering the film only did half what the 2005 version of “Fantastic Four” did, that’s gonna hurt). When a director disowns his own movie, it usually means it’s a pile of dung. And this be that, yo.
Apparently Trank could in some deep legal shit for saying what he’s said about “Fantastic Four”. And fair enough. His contract likely stated that he had to remain professional, and support the film. And I do agree that he should’ve and could’ve waited until the film was at least out of theaters before criticizing his employer.
In the past year, Trank not only pissed of Disney, and saw himself cut from the upcoming “Star Wars” standlone film he was set to helm, but now Fox. That’s two of the biggest studios on Earth. If he’s not careful, he could be Dancing With the Stars in 2016.
Fox insists they’re still committed to the “Fantastic Four” brand – even though they’re no longer mentioning that Summer 2017 sequel they’d promised – but that’s just spin. In this case, committed to “Fantastic Four” could simply mean “Yes, we’ll put it on DVD, use the one-sheets to wipe our arses with, and at the Christmas party, we’ll stab the Doctor Doom suit with a fork”. I’m committed to cheese, doesn’t mean I’m going to be doing time with the creamy stuff anytime soon.
My opinion? You, Fox are to blame. Trank, you’re also to blame. Nobody wanted to see a “Fantastic Four” reboot – particularly this soon; the prints of the previous incarnation weren’t even cold. When you start listening to audiences, and give them what they actually want as opposed to what you want them to want, they’ll react favourably. You see, the problem here isn’t so much that someone’s made a bad “Fantastic Four” movie, it’s that we didn’t care to see one. Been there, done that. Try again.
In other news, Tim Story could be heard chuckling loudly at a Hollywood bar over the weekend.
